This blog survived to 2018, which was not a given when it started. When I signed on two sponsors for 6 months last July, that ensured this would continue until 2018, because I didn’t want to refund their money. 🙂

Those sponsorships, however, end in about a week.

The Once and Future Blogger

When I started, my first goal was to see if I could even keep writing, which I’ve accomplished.

The second goal was to write content that didn’t stink, which I’ve intermittently accomplished.

The next goal was to have people to read it.  After all, if a blogger writes on The InterWebs and no one clicks on the links, does that blogger matter?  We’ve had brief periods where a lot of people were reading, but far more periods where few, if any, were reading.  I have had four posts make it to KevinMD and a few also circulated up by other bloggers whose readership far exceeds my own, but I’m not a viral hit.

The final goal was incumbent on the first two (and to an extent the third), to indulge my entrepeunrial spirit and make this a “side hustle” so to speak.  That’s a stretch goal, and subject to the limitations of my day job (I promises, bosses).

Certainly I’ve enjoyed benefits apart from the clicks — writing has become a hobby, I’ve made some “pen pals” online, and even donated to charity using blog revenue.

I even wrote a newsletter in October that I think turned out decent — if you missed it, click here to read it, but I have not written more since then because I wanted to focus my effort more on regular weekly content.  If you found value in it, let me know somehow.  I was on a podcast a few months ago that was fun to entertain (Season 3, Episode 40 on iTunes) — I’m certainly willing to be a guest on other people’s podcasts.  As they say, I’ve got a face made for radio!

Overall, based on where this blog stands now, is is not a slam dunk to continue it.

While it provides me enjoyment to write/interact, I don’t hold myself up too high — there’s significant room to improve my writing, my readership, and my entrepreneurial-ism.

I have a full-time job that will be quite busy the next 6 months (as I help shepherd in a new electronic medical record to our ED and continue to write research grants and manuscripts and do all the other things my job requires in addition to my “regular” work, actually working in the ER).  My wife and the three Rogue kids aren’t slowing down.

The Future State

Yet, the itch continues and wants to be scratched.

My two current sponsors have both agreed to stick on another 6-months, which means so will this site.  My goal is to help make their investment in me more worthwhile, and make this site more worthwhile for the reader.  They are featured on the charity page as well, as 10% of the money generated via their sponsorship also goes straight to charity.

So I’m making a slight shift.  Click over to the “About” section and it’s a bit different than before.

As part of this shift, I have a few plans to write content that hopefully will be more widely read week to week.  I have also set a couple internal goals/projects that may improve ability as a blogger and my readership in general.

Looking at what’s been the most read over the past 8 months, it’s clear that the posts related to medicine, finance, or the combination of those are the most popular.   This post on the financial problems with our healthcare system became the most read post on this site within only 2 weeks, despite having been published seven months after starting the blog.

So I have what I think are some interesting ideas on how to write more on areas that people find enjoyable or interesting.

You will also see a slight shift at times in the writing, with more of a focus on actionable content (when I can provide it) and a slightly less of a pure online diary approach. That won’t disappear — I consider this blog a personal outlet as much as anything, but I think that’s what the world wants.

I’ll still be writing about the other two main parts of this blog — kids and religion, but will also explore ways to approach those topics differently as well.

I’ve planned a collaboration with another blogger for the month of February that I hope will help both of us.  I am soliciting guest posts (email me if you want to write for this site!); I am also working on a guest post for a blogger whose site is read about 100x more than this one (maybe more).

Lastly, I want to scratch that entrepreneurial itch, so am going to explore more ways to do so.

This all requires readership, however, so thank you to all out there who have read this site.  If you enjoy this site, the best way to let me know is to encourage other people to read it, and of course, give me ideas on how to improve it as well as sharing your own thoughts on the site (or via social media).